Geo-cultural information based dynamic character variant rendering

ABSTRACT

For dynamically changing a rendering of content, the content including a textual character is received at a mobile device. An encoding of the textual character uses a first code point according to a character encoding standard. The mobile device&#39;s presence at a geographical location is detected. The mobile device is associated with a user. A variant selection rule is selected at the device. The variant selection rule specifies a location based condition to select a variant corresponding to the textual character. A variant is selected at the device according to the variant selection rule, a variant mapping corresponding to the first code point. The variant mapping includes the variant. The encoding of the textual character is replaced at the device with an encoding of the variant in the rendering of the content.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a method for presentingencoded content. More particularly, the present invention relates to amethod for geo-cultural information based dynamic character variantrendering.

BACKGROUND

A computer keyboard and display are common devices for providingcomputer input and output, respectively. A keyboard is language-specificsuch that the keys on the keyboard can be pressed to directly input onlythose characters in the keyboard's language that are assigned to thosekeys. For inputting other characters, a user has to press a combinationof keys on the keyboard.

Many languages have alphabets that are too large to accommodate on akeyboard. Many languages have modifiers, which when applied to acharacter in the language's alphabet produce additional characters inthe language's alphabet. Furthermore, the alphabets of many languages donot use characters to form words in the manner of the English language,but have a collection of characters that represent words. Thus,providing computer input in many languages is not as simple as pressingthe letter-keys on the keyboard but an indirect process of pressing acombination of keys to generate characters not available as keys on thekeyboard.

A display is also language-specific. In order to display characters incertain languages, certain scripts, fonts, and rendering directions canbe selected for proper rendering of the characters. Generally, forrendering characters of a given language, specific fonts are installedand presented on the computer display.

Text in digital content is encoded in a variety of ways for capturingfrom an input method, storage in a data storage system, and rendering ona user interface in a desirable manner. For example, Unicode is a commonencoding standard for encoding and handling of text characters from aset of language scripts in digital textual content.

Presently, Unicode encodes or codifies over one hundred thousandcharacters from over one hundred languages. Generally, in Unicode andother character encoding standards, each character represented in thestandard is assigned an encoded value called a code point. For example,in Unicode standard UTF-8 uses one byte—eight bits—to encode the codepoints of the characters represented in UTF-8. UTF-16 similarly uses twobytes for encoding the code points of the characters representedtherein.

A code point in an encoding standard is unique to a specific characterin a specific language represented in that encoding standard. Forexample, in Unicode, a code point comprises an alphanumeric string thatcan be generated on commonly used keyboard configurations, such as anEnglish language QWERTY keyboard.

As an example, to provide a Unicode code point, the user or anapplication generally supplies an indication that the alphanumericstring following the indication is a Unicode code point and should betranslated using a Unicode table to generate a character. For example,in some implementations, to provide a Unicode code point using a QWERTYkeyboard, a user can press the ALT key, keep the ALT key depressed whileentering the code point, and release the ALT key when the code pointentry is complete.

An application called an input method application, or simply “inputmethod” or “IMA”, intercepts the Unicode code point that the userenters. The IMA looks up a Unicode table to find the character thatmatches the code point that the user entered. The IMA supplies thecharacter to a target application for which the user is supplying theinput.

A character variant is an alternate representation of a character withinthe given encoding standard. There are two types of charactervariants—Variants with Different Code Points (VDCP) and Glyphs with SameCode Point (GSCP). A variant is a VDCP type variant when the originalcharacter and the variant have different code points, with the same ordifferent language tags, within the encoding standard. A variant is aGSCP type variant when the glyph—a manner of scripting or otherwisevisually representing the character—of the original character and thevariant has the same code point but different language tags in theencoding standard.

SUMMARY

The illustrative embodiments provide a method for geo-culturalinformation based dynamic character variant rendering. An embodimentincludes a method for dynamically changing a rendering of content. Theembodiment receives, at a device, the content including a textualcharacter, an encoding of the textual character using a first code pointaccording to a character encoding standard. The embodiment detects, atthe device, that the device is present at a geographical location, themobile device being associated with a user. The embodiment selects, atthe device, a variant selection rule, wherein the variant selection rulespecifies a location based condition to select a variant correspondingto the textual character. The embodiment selects, at the device,according to the variant selection rule, a variant mapping correspondingto the first code point, the variant mapping including the variant. Theembodiment replaces, at the device, in the rendering of the content, theencoding of the textual character with an encoding of the variant.

Another embodiment includes a computer readable article of manufactureembodying computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause acomputer to carry out steps of a method for dynamically changing arendering of content.

Another embodiment includes a data processing system for dynamicallychanging a rendering of content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well asa preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, willbest be understood by reference to the following detailed description ofthe illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a network of data processing systemsin which illustrative embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a data processing system in whichillustrative embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 3 depicts example s of variant mapping tables in accordance with anillustrative embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of an example configuration forgeo-cultural information based dynamic character variant rendering inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment; and

FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of an example process for geo-culturalinformation based dynamic character variant rendering in accordance withan illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The illustrative embodiments recognize that language usage isgeography-dependent. In other words, the illustrative embodimentsrecognize that a language of communication changes from place to place,and affects how information is communicated to a user. The illustrativeembodiments recognize that even if the underlying languagegrammatically, semantically, or principally remains the same from placeto place, the characters used in that language can change.

The illustrative embodiments further recognize that while traveling fromone geographical location to another, the location of a user affects howinformation is presented to the user in that location. For example,mainland China and Taiwan area both use the Chinese language. But, thepreferred character representations for communicating a concept inmainland China are from simplified Chinese—a preference in mainlandChina—whereas the preferred character representations for communicatinga concept in Taiwan area are from traditional Chinese—a preference inTaiwan area. Thus, a user who travels from mainland China to Taiwan areaends up still using the variants from simplified Chinese in Taiwan area,on a user interface, be it for reading local news, or typing an email toa local entity, or for other data handling purposes.

Similar problems arise when a user travels from Taiwan area to Japan,for example, because Traditional Chinese and Japanese character setsshare many similar characters. As another example, a user traveling fromPakistan to Egypt sees similar problems in the Arabic script as well.Some regional Arabic script and characters may have the Persianinfluence whereas the Arabic script and characters in other regions haveEgyptian, African, Urdu, and other influences.

The illustrative embodiments recognize that regional variations inlanguages, dialects, preferences, cultures, give rise to variations incharacter representations within a language as well as across differentlanguages. Such variations in the characters used in a geographic regionform variants in a character encoding standard.

The illustrative embodiments recognize that presently, copies of thecontent are statically encoded differently for different locales wherethe content will be served. In other words, the content encoding ischanged in copies of the content to adapt a copy of the content to ageographic region. For example, in a web server, content sent to a userwho registered or subscribed from mainland China is encoded specificallyusing the code points of characters in simplified Chinese, and adifferent version of the same content that is targeted at another userwho registered from Taiwan area is encoded specifically using the codepoints of characters in traditional Chinese.

A user from mainland China is subscribed to, or otherwise configured toreceive the simplified Chinese encoding of the content. In this localebased manner, the user continues to receive the content encoded insimplified Chinese even if the user travels to Taiwan area.

The illustrative embodiments recognize that the specifically regionallyencoded content is static, and cannot change with the changinggeo-cultural information that becomes related to the user at differenttimes. Geo-cultural information is information that represents ageographic location and cultural influences of that geographic locationon the language of a given content. Dynamic geo-cultural information isgeo-cultural information that changes as the location of a user changes,for example, as a result of the user traveling from one geographicallocation to another.

The illustrative embodiments recognize that presently, digital content,particularly textual content, cannot be dynamically adapted to usecharacter variants suited to a dynamic geo-cultural information, such asaccording to a Global Positioning System (GPS) location of the user atany given time. The illustrative embodiments recognize that because auser's location, and therefore a location of a device associated withthe user, changes in real-time, statically encoded content is unsuitablefor dynamic rendering of the character variants in the content dependingupon the location where the user might be at any given time. Forexample, presently, if a user from mainland China travels to Japan,simplified Chinese content rendered on the user's device cannot berendered using Japanese variants while the user is in Japan.

The illustrative embodiments used to describe the invention generallyaddress and solve the above-described problems and other problemsrelated to the presentation of digital content according to dynamicgeo-cultural information and preferences. The illustrative embodimentsprovide a method for geo-cultural information based dynamic charactervariant rendering.

The illustrative embodiments are described using Unicode encoding onlyas a non-limiting example for the purposes of the clarity of thedescription. Other encoding standards can similarly be used inconjunction with an embodiment within the scope of the illustrativeembodiments. Furthermore, the illustrative embodiments are describedusing certain languages and corresponding character sets only as anon-limiting example for the purposes of the clarity of the description.Other languages and their characters can similarly be used inconjunction with an embodiment within the scope of the illustrativeembodiments.

An embodiment receives content in which certain characters have beenencoded using a certain character set of a certain language. Theembodiment receives a dynamically generated geo-cultural update. Forexample, one embodiment receives a present location of a device on whichthe embodiment is executing, and correlates the location with anygeographical and/or cultural preferences of the user of the devicerelative to that location.

The embodiment identifies a character in the content where the characterhas one or more character variants in the encoding standard. Theidentified character in the existing encoding of the content is called avariant candidate character, or simply a candidate character.

An embodiment maintains mappings of the various variants of a characterwith one another. For example, one embodiment maintains a mapping tablein which the various VDCP variants of a character occupy differentcolumns in a row. Such an example VDCP mapping table can include anynumber of rows to represent mappings between of VDCP variants of anynumber of characters represented in a given encoding. Note thatdifferent columns can contain variants from different languages, andwhen applicable, variants from the same language can also occupyseparate columns in a VDCP mapping table. More than one VDCP mappingtable can be created, for example, to have different configurations ofcolumns, for different languages, or simply to have manageable number ofrows in each table.

Similarly, the embodiment maintains a mapping table in which the variousGSCP variants of a character occupy different columns in a row. Such anexample GSCP mapping table can include any number of rows to representmappings between of GSCP variants of any number of charactersrepresented in a given encoding. More than one GSCP mapping table can becreated, for example, to have different configurations of columns, fordifferent languages, or simply to have manageable number of rows in eachtable.

An embodiment selects a variant of the variant candidate character usinga variant mapping table and a variant selection rule. A variantselection rule is logic or condition to select one of the variants of avariant candidate character from a variant mapping table.

For example, suppose that an example VDCP mapping table includes fourcolumns for variants in traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Korean,and Japanese. A row in this example VDCP mapping table includes one ormore character(s) or expression having a particular meaning intraditional Chinese in one column, one or more character(s) orexpression having the same particular meaning in simplified Chinese inthe second column, one or more character(s) or expression having thesame particular meaning in Korean in the third column, and one or morecharacter(s) or expression having the same particular meaning inJapanese in the fourth column.

Assume only as a non-limiting example that a user's locale is set tomainland China on the user's device, and that the user's languagedefault is set to simplified Chinese. One simple example variantselection rule may specify that if the user's (device's) location is inmainland China, the simplified Chinese variant should be used; if theuser's (device's) location is in Taiwan area, the traditional Chinesevariant should be used; if the user's (device's) location is in SouthKorea, the Korean variant should be used; and if the user's (device's)location is in Japan, the Japanese variant should be used.

Another example variant selection rule may specify that if the user's(device's) location is in mainland China, the simplified Chinese variantshould be used; if the user's (device's) location is anywhere else, thetraditional Chinese variant should be used. Another example variantselection rule may specify that if the user's (device's) location is inTaiwan area on a weekend, the simplified Chinese variant should be used;if the user's (device's) location is in on a weekday, the traditionalChinese variant should be used; and everywhere else on any day,simplified Chinese should be used.

Another simple example variant selection rule may specify that if theuser's (device's) location is not in mainland China, and unless thelocation is in Taiwan area, South Korea, or Japan, traditional Chinesevariant should be used as default for content received or sent in emailcommunications, and simplified Chinese variants should be used inweb-browser content; but if the user's (device's) location is in Taiwanarea, the traditional Chinese variant should be used for all content; ifthe user's (device's) location is in South Korea, the Korean variantshould be used for content communicated with local persons andsimplified Chinese should be used for content communicated with mainlandChinese users; and if the user's (device's) location is in Japan, theJapanese variant should be used in all communications.

In a similar manner, an embodiment can also select a GSCP variant of thevariant candidate character using a GSCP variant mapping table and avariant selection rule. For example, suppose that an example GSCPmapping table includes four columns for variants in traditional Chinese,simplified Chinese, Korean, and Japanese where all variants have thesame code point but different language tags. A row in this example VDCPmapping table includes a character having a particular code point intraditional Chinese in one column, a character having the same codepoint in simplified Chinese in the second column, a character having thesame code point in Korean in the third column, and a character havingthe same code point in Japanese in the fourth column.

Again, assume only as a non-limiting example that a user's locale is setto mainland China on the user's device, and that the user's languagedefault is set to simplified Chinese. One simple example variantselection rule may specify that if the user's (device's) location is inmainland China, the simplified Chinese variant should be used from theGSCP mapping table; if the user's (device's) location is in Taiwan area,the traditional Chinese variant should be used from the GSCP mappingtable; if the user's (device's) location is in South Korea, the Koreanvariant should be used from the GSCP mapping table; and if the user's(device's) location is in Japan, the Japanese variant should be usedfrom the GSCP mapping table.

Other examples of variant selection rules described above would alsooperate in a similar manner with a GSCP mapping table as well. Theseexample variants and variants tables are described only as non-limitingexamples. From this disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art willbe able to construct and use other forms of VDCP mappings and GSCPmappings, and the same are contemplated within the scope of theillustrative embodiments.

These example variant selection rules and the example manners of usingthem in conjunction with a VDCP mapping table or a GSCP mapping tableare not intended to be limiting on the illustrative embodiments. As canbe seen from these examples, very simple to very complex variantselection rules can be created depending upon the needs of a particularimplementation. Such other rules are contemplated within the scope ofthe illustrative embodiments.

A profile of the user enables an embodiment to select a suitable variantselection rule. For example, a user profile describing a user's languagepreferences, including variants preferences, may be configured for usewith the device.

Once an embodiment selects a variant of the variant candidate using theselected variant selection rule and a variant mapping, the embodimentreplaces the variant candidate character with the variant from themapping in satisfaction of the rule. In one embodiment, the replacingoccurs at the time of rendering the variant candidate character using auser interface (UI) of the device such that the selected variant isrendered using the UI instead of rendering the variant candidatecharacter, even though the received content included the encoding of thevariant candidate character, not the encoding of the variant that isrendered. For example, the variant replacement occurs in a displaybuffer on the fly but the code points in the original content remainunchanged.

Note that the replacing does not modify the content but only a renderingof the content. The content with the encoding of the VDCP-type variantcandidate character replaced with the encoding of the selected variant,such as by replacing a code point, a language tag, or both, is referredto as globalized content. The embodiment renders the globalized contentusing the UI.

A method of an embodiment described herein, when implemented to executeon a device or data processing system, comprises substantial advancementof the functionality of that device or data processing system inrendering globalized content according to the dynamic geo-culturalinformation of a user. For example, prior-art pre-configures contentwith different encoding for different regions, and a specific encodingof the content is delivered to a user according to the user's presetlocale. An embodiment dynamically determines the user's assesses theuser's location and the associated geo-cultural preferences at any giventime. Using this dynamically determined information, an embodimentselects a geo-culturally preferred variant for each of one or morecandidate characters encoded in a given content. The embodiment replacesthe encoding of the candidate characters in the content with theselected encoding of corresponding variants for rendering. Such mannerof changing the encoding of characters in a given content at renderingregardless of the received encoding of the content is unavailable inpresently available devices or data processing systems. Thus, asubstantial advancement of such devices or data processing systems byexecuting a method of an embodiment is achieved by making the contentmatch a geo-cultural preference according to the dynamically changinggeographic location of the user whose locale settings may remainunchanged.

The illustrative embodiments are described with respect to certaincontent, characters, encoding, standards, locale, languages, variants,locations, geo-cultural information, preferences or settings, rules,profiles, devices, data processing systems, environments, components,and applications only as examples. Any specific manifestations of theseand other similar artifacts are not intended to be limiting to theinvention. Any suitable manifestation of these and other similarartifacts can be selected within the scope of the illustrativeembodiments.

Furthermore, the illustrative embodiments may be implemented withrespect to any type of data, data source, or access to a data sourceover a data network. Any type of data storage device may provide thedata to an embodiment of the invention, either locally at a dataprocessing system or over a data network, within the scope of theinvention. Where an embodiment is described using a mobile device, anytype of data storage device suitable for use with the mobile device mayprovide the data to such embodiment, either locally at the mobile deviceor over a data network, within the scope of the illustrativeembodiments.

The illustrative embodiments are described using specific code, designs,architectures, protocols, layouts, schematics, and tools only asexamples and are not limiting to the illustrative embodiments.Furthermore, the illustrative embodiments are described in someinstances using particular software, tools, and data processingenvironments only as an example for the clarity of the description. Theillustrative embodiments may be used in conjunction with othercomparable or similarly purposed structures, systems, applications, orarchitectures. For example, other comparable mobile devices, structures,systems, applications, or architectures therefor, may be used inconjunction with such embodiment of the invention within the scope ofthe invention. An illustrative embodiment may be implemented inhardware, software, or a combination thereof.

The examples in this disclosure are used only for the clarity of thedescription and are not limiting to the illustrative embodiments.Additional data, operations, actions, tasks, activities, andmanipulations will be conceivable from this disclosure and the same arecontemplated within the scope of the illustrative embodiments.

Any advantages listed herein are only examples and are not intended tobe limiting to the illustrative embodiments. Additional or differentadvantages may be realized by specific illustrative embodiments.Furthermore, a particular illustrative embodiment may have some, all, ornone of the advantages listed above.

With reference to the figures and in particular with reference to FIGS.1 and 2, these figures are example diagrams of data processingenvironments in which illustrative embodiments may be implemented. FIGS.1 and 2 are only examples and are not intended to assert or imply anylimitation with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. A particular implementation may makemany modifications to the depicted environments based on the followingdescription.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a network of data processing systemsin which illustrative embodiments may be implemented. Data processingenvironment 100 is a network of computers in which the illustrativeembodiments may be implemented. Data processing environment 100 includesnetwork 102. Network 102 is the medium used to provide communicationslinks between various devices and computers connected together withindata processing environment 100. Network 102 may include connections,such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables.

Clients or servers are only example roles of certain data processingsystems connected to network 102 and are not intended to exclude otherconfigurations or roles for these data processing systems. Server 104and server 106 couple to network 102 along with storage unit 108.Software applications may execute on any computer in data processingenvironment 100. Clients 110, 112, and 114 are also coupled to network102. A data processing system, such as server 104 or 106, or client 110,112, or 114 may contain data and may have software applications orsoftware tools executing thereon.

Only as an example, and without implying any limitation to sucharchitecture, FIG. 1 depicts certain components that are usable in anexample implementation of an embodiment. For example, servers 104 and106, and clients 110, 112, 114, are depicted as servers and clients onlyas example and not to imply a limitation to a client-serverarchitecture. As another example, an embodiment can be distributedacross several data processing systems and a data network as shown,whereas another embodiment can be implemented on a single dataprocessing system within the scope of the illustrative embodiments. Dataprocessing systems 104, 106, 110, 112, and 114 also represent examplenodes in a cluster, partitions, and other configurations suitable forimplementing an embodiment.

Device 132 is an example of a device described herein. For example,device 132 can take the form of a smartphone, a tablet computer, alaptop computer, client 110 in a stationary or a portable form, awearable computing device, or any other suitable device. Any softwareapplication described as executing in another data processing system inFIG. 1 can be configured to execute in device 132 in a similar manner.Any data or information stored or produced in another data processingsystem in FIG. 1 can be configured to be stored or produced in device132 in a similar manner.

Server 106 serves content 107, which is encoded in a manner determinedby server 106, to device 132, or any other device associated with auser, such as client 114. Application 134 in device 132 implements anembodiment described herein. Rules 136 are one or more variant selectionrules and may be stored locally at device 132 (shown) or accessible todevice 132 over a data network (not shown). Application 134 uses rules136 according to profile 138 to replace an encoding of a character incontent 107 when content 107 is to be rendered using UI 140. Similar todevice 132, client 114 is also an example of a device, such as a laptopcomputer, which may be associated with a user as the user changeslocations. Application 115 in device 114 implements an embodimentdescribed herein. Application 134 accesses rules 109 over a datanetwork. Application 115 uses a rule 109 either according to a defaultsetting or a configuration of the rule 109 itself, to replace anencoding of a character in content 107 when content 107 is to berendered using UI 117. For example, a profile may not be needed if arule 109 is configured to be triggered by default according to thelocation of device 132 or client 114.

Servers 104 and 106, storage unit 108, and clients 110, 112, and 114 maycouple to network 102 using wired connections, wireless communicationprotocols, or other suitable data connectivity. Clients 110, 112, and114 may be, for example, personal computers or network computers.

In the depicted example, server 104 may provide data, such as bootfiles, operating system images, and applications to clients 110, 112,and 114. Clients 110, 112, and 114 may be clients to server 104 in thisexample. Clients 110, 112, 114, or some combination thereof, may includetheir own data, boot files, operating system images, and applications.Data processing environment 100 may include additional servers, clients,and other devices that are not shown.

In the depicted example, data processing environment 100 may be theInternet. Network 102 may represent a collection of networks andgateways that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) and other protocols to communicate with one another. At theheart of the Internet is a backbone of data communication links betweenmajor nodes or host computers, including thousands of commercial,governmental, educational, and other computer systems that route dataand messages. Of course, data processing environment 100 also may beimplemented as a number of different types of networks, such as forexample, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network(WAN). FIG. 1 is intended as an example, and not as an architecturallimitation for the different illustrative embodiments.

Among other uses, data processing environment 100 may be used forimplementing a client-server environment in which the illustrativeembodiments may be implemented. A client-server environment enablessoftware applications and data to be distributed across a network suchthat an application functions by using the interactivity between aclient data processing system and a server data processing system. Dataprocessing environment 100 may also employ a service orientedarchitecture where interoperable software components distributed acrossa network may be packaged together as coherent business applications.

With reference to FIG. 2, this figure depicts a block diagram of a dataprocessing system in which illustrative embodiments may be implemented.Data processing system 200 is an example of a computer, such as servers104 and 106, or clients 110, 112, and 114 in FIG. 1, or another type ofdevice in which computer usable program code or instructionsimplementing the processes may be located for the illustrativeembodiments.

Data processing system 200 is also representative of a data processingsystem or a configuration therein, such as data processing system inFIG. 1 in which computer usable program code or instructionsimplementing the processes of the illustrative embodiments may belocated. Data processing system 200 is described as a computer only asan example, without being limited thereto. Implementations in the formof other devices, such as device 132 in FIG. 1, may modify dataprocessing system 200, such as by adding a touch interface, and eveneliminate certain depicted components from data processing system 200without departing from the general description of the operations andfunctions of data processing system 200 described herein.

In the depicted example, data processing system 200 employs a hubarchitecture including North Bridge and memory controller hub (NB/MCH)202 and South Bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (SB/ICH) 204.Processing unit 206, main memory 208, and graphics processor 210 arecoupled to North Bridge and memory controller hub (NB/MCH) 202.Processing unit 206 may contain one or more processors and may beimplemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems.Processing unit 206 may be a multi-core processor. Graphics processor210 may be coupled to NB/MCH 202 through an accelerated graphics port(AGP) in certain implementations.

In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter 212 is coupledto South Bridge and I/O controller hub (SB/ICH) 204. Audio adapter 216,keyboard and mouse adapter 220, modem 222, read only memory (ROM) 224,universal serial bus (USB) and other ports 232, and PCI/PCIe devices 234are coupled to South Bridge and I/O controller hub 204 through bus 238.Hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) 226 and CD-ROM 230 arecoupled to South Bridge and I/O controller hub 204 through bus 240.PCI/PCIe devices 234 may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-incards, and PC cards for notebook computers. PCI uses a card buscontroller, while PCIe does not. ROM 224 may be, for example, a flashbinary input/output system (BIOS). Hard disk drive 226 and CD-ROM 230may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE), serialadvanced technology attachment (SATA) interface, or variants such asexternal-SATA (eSATA) and micro-SATA (mSATA). A super I/O (SIO) device236 may be coupled to South Bridge and I/O controller hub (SB/ICH) 204through bus 238.

Memories, such as main memory 208, ROM 224, or flash memory (not shown),are some examples of computer usable storage devices. Hard disk drive orsolid state drive 226, CD-ROM 230, and other similarly usable devicesare some examples of computer usable storage devices including acomputer usable storage medium.

An operating system runs on processing unit 206. The operating systemcoordinates and provides control of various components within dataprocessing system 200 in FIG. 2. The operating system may be acommercially available operating system such as AIX® (AIX is a trademarkof International Business Machines Corporation in the United States andother countries), Microsoft® Windows® (Microsoft and Windows aretrademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and othercountries), Linux® (Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the UnitedStates and other countries), iOS™ (iOS is a trademark of Cisco Systems,Inc. licensed to Apple Inc. in the United States and in othercountries), or Android™ (Android is a trademark of Google Inc., in theUnited States and in other countries). An object oriented programmingsystem, such as the Java™ programming system, may run in conjunctionwith the operating system and provide calls to the operating system fromJava™ programs or applications executing on data processing system 200(Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks orregistered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates).

Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programmingsystem, and applications or programs, such as applications 115 and 134in FIG. 1, are located on storage devices, such as hard disk drive 226,and may be loaded into at least one of one or more memories, such asmain memory 208, for execution by processing unit 206. The processes ofthe illustrative embodiments may be performed by processing unit 206using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in amemory, such as, for example, main memory 208, read only memory 224, orin one or more peripheral devices.

The hardware in FIGS. 1-2 may vary depending on the implementation.Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory,equivalent non-volatile memory, or optical disk drives and the like, maybe used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in FIGS.1-2. In addition, the processes of the illustrative embodiments may beapplied to a multiprocessor data processing system.

In some illustrative examples, data processing system 200 may be apersonal digital assistant (PDA), which is generally configured withflash memory to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating systemfiles and/or user-generated data. A bus system may comprise one or morebuses, such as a system bus, an I/O bus, and a PCI bus. Of course, thebus system may be implemented using any type of communications fabric orarchitecture that provides for a transfer of data between differentcomponents or devices attached to the fabric or architecture.

A communications unit may include one or more devices used to transmitand receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter. A memory may be,for example, main memory 208 or a cache, such as the cache found inNorth Bridge and memory controller hub 202. A processing unit mayinclude one or more processors or CPUs.

The depicted examples in FIGS. 1-2 and above-described examples are notmeant to imply architectural limitations. For example, data processingsystem 200 also may be a tablet computer, laptop computer, or telephonedevice in addition to taking the form of a mobile or wearable device.

With reference to FIG. 3, this figure depicts example s of variantmapping tables in accordance with an illustrative embodiment.Application 134 or application 115 in FIG. 1 maintains tables 302 and/or352 in their respective devices.

Table 302 stored VDCP mappings of expressions comprising one or morecharacters that convey the same or similar meanings in one or morelanguages. Note that a variant character in table 302 can include one ormore symbols to represent an expression in that language.

Only as a non-limiting example, column 304 contains variants with alanguage tag corresponding to the language used in mainland China.Column 306 contains variants with a language tag corresponding to thelanguage used in Taiwan area. Column 308 contains variants with alanguage tag corresponding to the language used in Hong Kong area.Column 310 contains variants with a language tag corresponding to theJapanese language. More than one columns are possible for a singlelanguage when more than one variants are possible in that language for agiven expression.

Each row includes one or more variants under corresponding one or morecolumns according to their language tags. The code points of the entriesin different columns of the same row are different from one another. Forexample, row 312 includes variants 314, 316, 318, and 320 under columns304, 306, 308, and 310, respectively. Each of variants 314, 316, 318,and 320 has a different code point in the encoding standard.

Table 352 stored GSCP mappings of characters that have the same codepoint but have different language tags. Only as a non-limiting example,column 354 contains variants with a language tag corresponding to thelanguage used in mainland China. Column 356 contains variants with alanguage tag corresponding to the language used in Taiwan area. Column358 contains variants with a language tag corresponding to the languageused in Hong Kong area. Column 360 contains variants with a language tagcorresponding to the Japanese language.

Each row includes one or more variants under corresponding one or morecolumns according to their language tags. The code points of the entriesin different columns of the same row are the same. For example, row 362includes variants 364, 366, 368, and 370 under columns 354, 356, 358,and 360, respectively. Each of variants 364, 366, 368, and 370 has thesame code point but a different language tag in the encoding standard.

With reference to FIG. 4, this figure depicts a block diagram of anexample configuration for geo-cultural information based dynamiccharacter variant rendering in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment. Application 402 is an example of application 134 orapplication 115 in FIG. 1.

Content 404 is an example of content 107 in FIG. 1, and includes codepoint 406 of an example candidate character. Application 402 receivescontent 404 for rendering using UI 407.

Present location 408 is a location at a given time, of the device (notshown) where application 402 is executing. Rules 410 include one or morevariant selection rules, such as rules 136 or 109 in FIG. 1. Rules 410may be stored in the device where application 402 is executing or may beavailable to the device over a data network.

Profile 411 is a profile of the user that is usable for selecting a rulefrom rules 410. Profile 411 is optional and may be omitted with someimplementations of the rules as described herein.

Variant mappings 412 includes one or more mapping data structures, suchas variant mapping tables 302, 352, or both, in FIG. 3. Preferably,variant mappings 412 are stored in the device where application 402 isexecuting, but can also be made available to the device over a datanetwork.

Component 414 detects a location of the device according to locationinput 408. Component 416 detects a candidate character, such ascandidate character 406 in content 404, which can be replaced with avariant that is suitable for use at the location by component 414.

Component 418 selects a mapping corresponding to candidate character 406in variant mappings 412. Particularly, component 418 selects a rule fromrules 410, optionally by using profile 411. Using the selected rule 410,component 418 selects a variant mapping corresponding to candidatecharacter 406 from variant mappings 412.

Component 420 uses the variant from the selected variant mapping 412 toreplace the code point of candidate character 406 in preparation forrendering. The variant of candidate character 406 in the selectedvariant mapping 412 is geo-culturally suitable for use according to thelocation of the device and selected rule 410. Using UI 407, component422 renders globalized content 424 in which the code point of candidatecharacter 406 has been replaced with code point of the selected variant426.

While the depiction in this figure shows one character being replacedwith a variant, the illustrative embodiments are not limited toreplacing any specific number of code points. From this disclosure,those of ordinary skill will be able to replace any number of codepoints similar to code point 406 with corresponding code points 426 ofthe corresponding variants.

With reference to FIG. 5, this figure depicts a flowchart of an exampleprocess for geo-cultural information based dynamic character variantrendering in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Process 500 canbe implemented in application 402 in FIG. 4.

The application receives content, which includes encoded characters(block 502). The application receives dynamically generated geo-culturalupdate (block 504). For example, the application may receive ordetermine a GPS location of the device and identify a location-basedcultural or preference identification, such as from a profile.

The application identifies a character, specifically a code point of acharacter, in the content, where the character is a candidate characterbased on the geo-cultural update (block 506). The application determineswhether the candidate character has a GSCP variant or a VDCP variant inthe variant mappings (block 508).

If the candidate character has a VDCP variant (“VDCP” path of block508), the application uses a variant selection rule and a VDCP variantmapping corresponding to the candidate character to select a VDCPvariant for the candidate character (block 510). The applicationproceeds to block 514 thereafter. If the candidate character has a GSCPvariant (“GSCP” path of block 508), the application uses a variantselection rule and a GSCP variant mapping corresponding to the candidatecharacter to select a GSCP variant for the candidate character (block512).

The application replaces the code point of the candidate character withthe code point of the selected VDCP or GSCP variant (block 514). Theapplication repeats blocks 506-514 as many times as needed to replaceone or more candidate character code points in this manner.

Once all candidate character code points in the received content havebeen replaced in this manner for rendering, the application supplies forrendering the code points of the selected variants instead of the codepoints of the candidate characters as a part of globalized content to aUI (block 516). The application ends process 500 thereafter.

Thus, a computer implemented method is provided in the illustrativeembodiments for geo-cultural information based dynamic character variantrendering. Where an embodiment or a portion thereof is described withrespect to a type of device, the computer implemented method or aportion thereof, is adapted or configured for use with a suitable andcomparable manifestation of that type of device.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: modifying a user interface(UI) rendering component of a mobile device to form a modified UIrendering component, wherein the modified UI rendering component isenabled to dynamically change a rendering of content based ongeo-cultural information by performing operations comprising: receiving,at the mobile device, the content including a textual character, anencoding of the textual character using a first code point according toa character encoding standard; detecting, at the mobile device, that themobile device is present at a geographical location, the mobile devicebeing associated with a mobile user; selecting, at the mobile device, avariant selection rule, wherein the variant selection rule specifies alocation based condition to select a variant corresponding to thetextual character, wherein the variant conveys one of (i) a similarmeaning in a different language than a language of the textualcharacter, and (ii) has the same first code point but is associated witha different language than that of the textual character; selecting, atthe mobile device, according to the variant selection rule, a variantmapping corresponding to the first code point, the variant mappingincluding the variant; and causing an on-the-fly change in a displaybuffer of the mobile device, the on-the-fly change comprising replacing,at the mobile device, in the rendering of the content, the encoding ofthe textual character with an encoding of the variant.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the encoding of the textual character corresponds to alocale setting of the mobile device, further comprising: detecting thatthe mobile device has moved to a second location; receiving, at thesecond location, the content with the encoding of the textual character;and rendering the textual character as a second variant corresponding tothe second location by replacing the encoding of the textual characterwith the encoding of the second variant.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: maintaining a data structure of variant mappings,wherein the variant mappings include the variant mapping, and whereinthe variant mapping comprises a second code point of the variant; andidentifying, as a part of the selecting, and corresponding to thelocation, the variant in the variant mapping.
 4. The method of claim 3,further comprising: determining that a language of the second code pointcorresponds to a region of the location.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the textual character is also encoded using a first languagetag, further comprising: maintaining a data structure of variantmappings, wherein the variant mappings include the variant mapping, andwherein the variant in the variant mapping comprises the code point anda second language tag; and identifying, as a part of the selecting, andcorresponding to the location, the variant in the variant mapping. 6.The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining that a languageof the second language tag corresponds to a region of the location. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the character encoding standard isUnicode.